The Blood of Fate
by Muse's Inspiration
Summary: It was always about the blood... X-over with Terminator: Salvation
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** The Blood of Fate: Chapter One  
**Author:** Muse  
**Rating:** R  
**Character/Pairing:** Marcus Wright, Dawn Summers  
**Warnings:** Violence, gore. SPOILERS FOR T4!! Don't say you weren't warned!!  
**Summary:** It was always about the blood…  
**Disclaimer:** Terminator characters are the creation of James Cameron. Buffy characters are the property of Joss Whedon. I'm not making a profit and it wouldn't do to come after me for money; I have three kids. I'm broke as a joke, yo!  
**Author's Notes:** written as part of the challenge for Terminatorfic. Prompts used were _Safe Haven_ and _"..and in this future, I don't know if we can win this war."_ I know that I'm late as all hell, but hey! – better late than never.  
**Beta credits:** dhark-charlotte, bewize and sabaceanbabe. Thank you, all of you! I don't know what I would have done without you guys!!

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The faint sounds of gunfire and explosions could be heard through the thick white walls of the holding cell that she had been placed in. Slowly, painfully, the girl turned her head and looked out through the small window of the door and saw that the primary lighting in the hall outside had gone out, leaving the dull red emergency light to illuminate her room. Resigned, she turned her head back to stare at the shadowed ceiling. It didn't matter what she heard out there; no one ever made it to the rear research labs.

Her eyes flickered down to examine yet again the restraints keeping her bound to the table. She'd been here for so long that the restraints had made permanent marks on her wrists and ankles. Frowning tiredly at the symbols engraved on the metal, she wondered for what was probably the millionth time, how the machines had discovered the one way to keep her secured. None of the machines had ever responded to her pleas or questions and she only knew that they had been thorough and she hadn't been able to leave once they strapped her down and started their experiments. A lone tear escaped as she heard more explosions and the red lights flickered slightly outside her small, dark room. She had never wanted out of a place as desperately as she did this cell. However, she knew nothing would release her. The machines had made sure of it.

Closing her eyes, she allowed her mind to drift away. She had become quite proficient in detaching herself from all physical discomforts and allowing her mind to take her out of the nightmare she found herself in. She tucked herself away in a memory of the warmth of her mother's arms, the laughter of her friends and blowing out the candles of her eighth birthday party cake. Here, she was safe… here she could survive anything.

-*-*-*-

With the sounds of explosions and gun fire sounding all around them and debris being flung in all directions, John Connor, leader of the Resistance, could barely make out the words of the young Lieutenant currently shouting at him. Holding his rifle ready, Connor quickly hunkered down and made his way over to the other officer to better hear him.

"What?" Connor yelled back.

"General, we found something! Something I think you're going to want to see!" The Lieutenant shouted back over the din. Connor studied him for a second and could see the fear and excitement in the man's eyes. Shaking his head, Connor cleared his throat.

"Where is it?" He already knew what it was. He had been looking for it for almost five years, when he knew the time had approached that the time displacement device should have started being developed. He had been sending out recon teams for the past few years, determined to find it before any further damage could be done to the timeline.

The young Lieutenant narrowed his eyes in confusion since it seemed that the General already knew what it was that they had found, but answered anyway. "It's on the next level down. Lots of security, but I think with Marcus and the Demolitionist, we should be able to get down to it. Might take on some casualties though."

Nodding in understanding, Connor stood up slightly and took note of his men's locations in the fight and, once he'd located and accounted for all surviving personnel, gave the order to start making the push to get to the lower level. Locating Kyle in the group of men rushing to start the push downwards, Connor made his way over to him. He knew that the time was coming when he would have to send the young man to his death; it was a difficult decision and it weighed on him continuously as to whether or not he should even allow Kyle to volunteer. Connor already knew that if he suggested it, Kyle would jump through the portal and go back through time to protect Sarah. Sighing, still torn as to what to do, Connor took up point and began leading his men down to the level that contained everything he and his mother had fought against.

-*-*-*-

Connor looked over the shoulder of the young technician as she frantically maneuvered her way through the complex file systems that comprised SkyNet. He knew what he was looking for, but there was information contained in the files that he didn't understand. Frowning, he quickly scanned over some of the logs from various experiments using time displacement and narrowed his eyes as one word was repeated throughout the documentation: Blood.

Confused, he turned to the Lieutenant who had accompanied him down to the lower level and noticed the man looked the worse for wear. He'd taken some shrapnel to the shoulder from one particularly close explosion that had also heavily damaged Marcus. Despite being more man than machine, Marcus could take a beating and keep on going, which is why they used him in the frontal assaults. Realizing that the officer was going to be of little use to him right then, Connor turned his attention back to what the young technician had found. He watched silently, reading as the technician quickly scanned through the file structures when something suddenly caught his eye.

"Wait!" he said quickly. "Go back!"

The technician frowned in confusion, but dutifully scanned back through the files. "There! That!" Connor said, pointing to a file that just said 'Key'. "Open that one." Even though she was thoroughly confused at this point, the technician performed the necessary hacks that were required to get into the heavily encrypted folder and its contents. Nudging her to the side, Connor sat down and began to quickly scan through the files within it and realized he'd found what he was looking for.

Stomach clenched with tension, he found the schematics for the device as well as the logs for the operational side of it. Opening another file, Connor frowned as he read through the description of how the unit had been created, the blood draining from his face as he re-read what was on the screen. Half turning in his seat, he looked back through the heavy glass doors that led to several containment cells. Standing up and grabbing his rifle, he turned to the soldiers in the rear and shouted, gaining their attention, "Jackson! Boyle! Get Kate! Now!"

Recognizing urgency in the command, the two soldiers turned and ran out of the room, searching for Connor's wife, Kate. Watching the two soldiers rush out, Connor took a deep breath and sat down, reading through the files as an overwhelming sense of dread filled him. What he found within the research logs sickened him to a degree that he didn't know he was even capable of feeling any longer. He couldn't stop himself from wondering if he had caused this to happen. Was this discovery a result of his and his mother's attempts to stop Judgment Day from happening?

Recognizing the futility in his thought process, he sighed and looked up in time to see Kate enter the lab and follow the direction of Marcus's gesture to where Connor was seated. Nodding in acknowledgement, Kate quickly walked over to her husband with a questioning look on her face, expression tensing as she saw the look in his eyes.

Placing a tentative hand on his arm, Kate spoke softly. "What is it, John? What did you find?"

Looking down at her earnest face, he wondered how he could tell her what he suspected lay beyond those glass doors; what his instincts screamed at him they would find. Gently covering her hand with his own, he bowed his head down towards her and spoke quietly. "I don't know, Kate. But whatever it is, I think we're going to need you there."

She searched his face and then nodded her acceptance. Giving her a tight smile at her unspoken trust in him, Connor turned and pulled his rifle to ready, giving the signal for everyone to form up and move out. Kate was placed in the center of the group for safety and they started making their way back to the containment cells.

-*-*-*-

Kate wrapped her arms around herself in an effort to ward off the chill that was seeping into her very bones down in the research labs. She found that although the ambient temperature wasn't actually cold, there was a dismalness to the surrounding environment that seemingly leeched all the warmth from one's very soul, leaving them chattering with a cold that didn't actually exist. Desiring nothing more than to leave the chill of the area, Kate silently followed the soldiers as they systematically checked each and every containment cell within the labs. She found it both disconcerting and disturbing the sheer number of cells that were located within the compound that the Resistance had discovered. Shuddering over the dark ponderings of what could have possibly taken place in the labs deep underground, Kate found herself completely lost in thought and was therefore unprepared for the short whistle that was the signal that one of the soldiers had found something, causing her to start in surprise.

She watched as her husband and Marcus made their way over to a door of a cell that had a red flickering emergency light above it. It illuminated Marcus in such a way that Kate fancied she saw blood running down his face. As she continued to watch the two men, her husband peered up into the room from the high window set in the door and studied the interior of the room. She grew concerned when he suddenly dropped back into a crouching position and started swearing, motioning for her to quickly come over to them.

Kate, in a crouching run, made her way over to the small cluster of men and looked expectantly at her husband, waiting for further information. John turned and looked at her for a moment, gazing at her with a sad look in his eyes. He turned and looked around until he located the young tech that had also been brought down, the girl wide eyed at being included in mission. Taking a deep breath, he motioned for his men to gather around.

"We're here. Marcus and I will go in, secure the room. Once we're done, Kate and SGT Dawson will be sent in. The rest of you will maintain a secure perimeter around this room until ordered to do otherwise from either me or Marcus. Understood?" Connor barked out the orders and waited for everyone to acknowledge that they understood their part in the plan. SGT Dawson was pale and frightened, but nodded and stepped over to where Kate was standing, waiting to be taken wherever her husband needed her.

Connor stood and slung his rifle over his shoulder. "All right. Let's go, Marcus."

Marcus stood quietly and on Connor's order began the hack to get through the cell's security system. The man was a mountain of silence, efficient and deadly. He was exactly what the Resistance needed and they were thankful that he had decided to throw his lot in with the humans rather than join SkyNet all those years ago. He was a formidable ally and would have made a dangerous enemy. He quickly made short work of the containment cell's security measures and stood back, allowing Connor to assess the situation.

Kate watched as the two men conferred quietly before Marcus opened the cell door and they stole in, the only sound made was the whisper of air as the door closed as silently as it opened. No sign of disturbance could be seen or heard. She was reminded, once again, of just how deadly the two men were when they were together.

Breaking off her train of thought, she stood up as the cell door ghosted open and Marcus signaled the two women to enter. Sensing that Dawson was reluctant to enter first, Kate pushed ahead and waved a hand for the younger girl to follow. She was uncertain herself, but trusted that John wouldn't have asked her to be there if she wasn't absolutely needed. Steeling herself for whatever she may find on the other side of the door, she stepped inside as Marcus held it open for her and Dawson.

There was nothing she could have done to prepare herself for what she found.

-*-*-*-

Kate couldn't contain the gasp that escaped nor stop the lump from forming in her throat as she fought back bile at what she encountered in the containment cell. Dawson didn't even try to hide her shock as she let out a harshly whispered, "What in the name of God…?!" and held a hand to her mouth in horror. The sight was something neither would forget for a very long time.

The room was small and stark white, with the red emergency lighting reflecting from every surface and casting eerily dark crimson shadows around the room. There was nothing else in the room save the four of them, the metal lab table, a large machine that had several large, clear tubes coming from it and the still form of a young girl attached to the machine via the tubing.

Kate breathed heavily through her mouth, trying not to gag on the bile rising in her throat. She had seen some horrible things in the years since Judgment Day, but she had never experienced anything like this. She glanced over and saw that Dawson's face had gone stark white and the girl looked like she was on the verge of passing out. Kate placed a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder and then looked to her husband, silently asking what he needed her to do.

Connor looked down at the young girl on the table and felt a fury the likes of which he had never known before. It was obvious at one time that the girl had been lovely to look at, with her fair skin and long legs; well, she would have had fair skin, but now it held a grey pallor from being kept from sunlight for much too long. She was naked, close to being emaciated due to lack of proper nutrition. Her hair had been shaved, probably to keep maintenance of the girl to a minimum. That the machines had done this to her, contained her like a lab rat… it was beyond monstrous. He could see on her wrists and ankles where the girl had struggled for an indefinite time, as the scarring on them from the leather and steel straps had rubbed them raw and they had healed, most likely repeatedly. He narrowed his eyes at the odd markings on the steel of the bands around them, wondering what the symbols meant. Shaking his head slightly, not sure what to make of all of it, his eyes wandered and he saw that the large tubes were connected to various parts of her body. He could see that four were for blood harvesting, one each inserted in both of her inner elbow joints and one each in the pelvic region of her groin, both sites locations of large veins. He saw that tubes had been placed for waste removal; how generous of the metal to not leave her in her bodily functions. There was also one that upon closer inspection he discovered was for a nutritional supplement.

Blinking through the angry haze that was starting to glaze his sight, he was startled to see that the girl had opened her eyes, meeting his gaze with sad blue eyes. Taking a shallow breath, she turned her head slightly, taking in everyone else's presence silently. Looking back at Connor, a dejectedly hopeful look in her eyes, she whispered hoarsely, "Are you real?"

Kate couldn't take it anymore and pushed her way between the two men to get to the girl's side. Giving her husband an unmistakable look, John took the hint and both he and Marcus turned and left the room, allowing the two women time to get the girl released from her imprisonment, having the presence of mind to quickly send Marcus back in with a medic's field kit. Kate took the case with a determined air and Marcus left as quietly as he had come in, not wanting to witness what was going to undoubtedly be a painful experience for the young girl.

Kate and Dawson immediately set to removing the various tubes, tears forming in their eyes as the girl was unable to stifle the cries and groans of pain as they were pulled out. In some places, the skin had healed around the tubes, thus forcing them to cut the tubing out. It wasn't long before Kate was rushing to stitch the girl up, praying that in the process she didn't bleed to death.

Once all of the tubes were removed, Dawson went and called Connor and Marcus back in. Both men grimaced at the volume of blood that covered both the girl and the two women in the room. As Kate reported back to her husband what they'd had to do to remove the tubing, Marcus became aware of the girl speaking softly to herself. Narrowing his eyes in confusion as it became aware that she was speaking in a language he didn't recognize, he moved slightly closer to her, straining to hear her better. She broke off momentarily as Connor approached her, staring at him with apprehensive eyes.

"It's OK." He said, holding up his hands to show her that he wasn't a threat to her. "We're not here to hurt you."

She watched him silently, weariness and distrust radiating from her. Connor sighed.

"Who are you? Where are you from? Do you have any family?" he asked.

She continued to watch him, slowly raising her arm slightly, asking without words to have the restraints removed. Connor eyed her for a moment and then motioned to Marcus to take them straps off of her. The girl watched Marcus intently as he stepped forward and made quick work of undoing the restraints. As he stepped back, she smiled sadly at him, looking into his eyes as if memorizing them and said, quietly, "Thank you…"

About to respond, he broke off as she again began to softly speak in the language he didn't recognize. Suddenly, without warning, a green glow began to emanate from the blood that was coating various areas of her body. Just as quickly as it started, a roaring sound could be heard as a bright green light burst upon them, causing them to shield their eyes from the intensity of it. Suddenly, there was a deafening silence and when they lowered their hands, the girl was gone. No trace of her left except for the restraints that were still swinging slowly from the lab table's side.

All the small group could do was stare at the table in shocked silence, not quite believing what they had just witnessed.

-*-*-*-

Buffy and Willow burst into Dawn's room, frantic at the sound of the younger girl's screaming in the dead of night. Quickly switching on the bedside lamp, Buffy worked to calm the distraught girl as she fought restraints that weren't there. Tears running down Willow's face, she could do nothing but observe helplessly as Dawn fought her way out of the nightmare. It would have probably helped if the girl could ever remember what the nightmares were about; Willow suspected it had something to do with Dawn's disappearance for a week during her freshman year of college. But Dawn couldn't remember what happened to her and they didn't want to push the issue. The only clues they had were the scars on her arms and pelvic area, as if something had punctured both locations.

Finally calming enough to bring herself out of the dreamscape she had been trapped in, Dawn found herself wrapped in Buffy's arms and broke down crying, just as she always did. She could never recall any of the dreams; she just knew that she felt completely helpless and vulnerable. Eventually, after many whispered affirmations that she was safe and that nothing would harm her again, Dawn felt that she was sufficiently capable of going to back to sleep.

Smiling sleepily at her sister and Willow, Dawn switched off the bedside lamp as the two girls left the room talking quietly to each other. Yawning as she settled herself back down into her pillows, Dawn found herself pondering what could cause such awful dreams. Holding out her arm, she frowned as she studied, not for the first time, the scar on her inner arm. Where had it come from? Why couldn't she remember receiving such large wounds?

Shrugging, she decided not to worry about it any longer for the night and closed her eyes. As she slowly drifted off to sleep, she smiled as the ghostly memory of brilliant blue eyes drifted through her mind.

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** The Blood of Fate: Chapter Two  
**Author:** Muse  
**Rating:** R  
**Character/Pairing:** Marcus Wright, Dawn Summers  
**Warnings:** Violence, gore. SPOILERS FOR T4!! Don't say you weren't warned!!  
**Summary:** It was always about the blood…  
**Disclaimer:** Terminator characters are the creation of James Cameron. Buffy characters are the property of Joss Whedon. I'm not making a profit and it wouldn't do to come after me for money; I have three kids. I'm broke as a joke, yo!  
**Author's Notes:** written as part of the CHALLENGE for Terminatorfic. Prompt used was "The Devil's hands have been busy…"  
**Beta Credits:** Special thanks to the loving father of my children, my ever wonderful and sexy husband, Shawn. Also, everyone give a big hand to AvaMcLean... she was wonderful and FAST! :-)

*~*~*~*~*~*

Kate looked up from her charts when she heard the deep sigh from the other side of the small room that she and her husband used as their main living area. She watched as John sat back from the computer at the tiny desk and ran his hands over his face and rubbed the back of his neck, exhaustion radiating from him. He had been spending the past several days studying the archives they had downloaded from the SkyNet research facility, pouring over them, looking for an answer when he wasn't even sure as to the question. All he knew was that it pertained to the young woman they had found strapped to the lab table when they had raided the facility.

Kate got up from her seat and walked over to him, gently touching his back. He turned slightly in his chair and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head against her stomach, sighing quietly. These were the times that Kate treasured the most; when John allowed himself to be just a man and not the hardened, battle weary Hope of the Future. She ran her fingers through his close-cropped hair, closing her eyes as she did so and wished, not for the first time, that their lives could be different; that they could relax and enjoy their moments like these to their fullest.

Soon enough, much too soon for Kate's liking, John sighed deeply and pressed a soft kiss against her hip and disentangled himself from her and then turned back to the computer. Kate allowed her hand to stay lightly on his shoulder as she leaned over and peered at the screen, wondering what John had learned.

"Have you found anything about the girl?" she asked.

John shrugged. "I know her name is Dawn Summers. They abducted her in 2005. It gets confusing after that…" he trailed off, frowning. He pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling the headache he'd been fighting for most of the day building in the back of his head. "It's almost as if…" he trailed off, glaring at the screen.

"What?" Kate asked, curious as to what he was alluding to. "Almost as if what?"

John turned and looked at her, confusion and possibly a hint of fear in his eyes as he met her gaze. "It's almost as if I'm reading multiple timelines, overlapping each other, Kate."

Kate couldn't contain her start of surprise as she stared back at him. "But… What..? John! – how is that even possible?"

John shook his head in confusion. "I… I don't know. But, if you read this; these files, they contain things that they shouldn't, Kate. Impossible things, to be quite honest." He sighed and stared at the wall for a moment. "When I sent Kyle back to my mom, he said something to her that I never really thought about before now."

Kate's confusion must have shown on her face because he stood up and motioned for her to follow over the dining table where he had some papers laid out. Picking up a pen, he began to draw a line with various ticks on it and then some other, longer, lines intersecting the main line at certain points. Once he was done, he took a deep breath and pointed to the main line.

"OK, you see this line here?" he asked and Kate nodded before he continued. "This line here represents the original scenario where I sent Kyle back to protect my mother from the T-800 that SkyNet had sent to terminate her." He ran his finger along the line, pausing for a moment where the date said 1984. "My mother always said that Kyle told her he was sent back alone because we destroyed the time device; that it was just him and T-800. No one else came through, no one could go back."

Kate nodded in understanding. He had told her all of this before. "But what did he say that has you this concerned?"

Narrowing his eyes, John pointed back to the timeline, finger resting on the date when Kyle met Sarah. "Here, Kyle states that he couldn't bring any weapons through. He told her that only living tissue could come through the portal." He looked back at the computer and then pointed to 1984. "In this timeline, Judgment Day happened in 2011 and I sent Kyle back in 2029. I would have been 44 years old at the time. This is the timeline that I think the girl originated from." He walked over and grabbed a pile of papers that he had been jotting notes down while he was reading through the archives.

Kate again nodded in understanding.

"Now, here is where it starts to get confusing." He pointed to the first intersecting line, marked by the date 1994. "When I was almost 10 years old, Uncle Bob came through. As well as the T-1000." Kate looked at John at the tone of sadness in his voice crept through. She knew that this was something that was hard for him to talk about. "This is where I think the girl's impact was beginning to be felt." Kate shook her head, not following John at all now.

Flipping through his papers, John quickly scanned through until he found the notes he needed. "OK, here it is!" Looking back at the timeline, he placed his finger between the Judgment Day tick and the tick where he sent Kyle back. "From what I can piece together, in the original timeline, SkyNet was researching time travel as a means to fight the Resistance. There was a pocket of soldiers that the fighting strength of a full battalion. I can only find one or two names in the files, but SkyNet mentions repeatedly the name of a Dawn Summers that was captured. It looks like they were experimenting on various forms of synthetic flesh and blood and were using human captives to provide the baselines for the testing." He took a deep breath. "During this time, from what I can understand, SkyNet discovered that Summers had … for lack of a better term, 'special' blood. When they started harvesting her blood and tissue, she disappeared right in front of them."

"Sounds familiar." Kate grumbled.

Nodding, John continued on. "SkyNet already had their time device built. They started sending T-800s back, looking for Summers in the past, before the Resistance raided the facility and as a last ditch effort, the T-800 that was sent for my mother was put through, along with me sending Kyle back."

Kate sighed and rubbed her forehead. "OK, I think I'm following you so far."

John smiled grimly. "Now, we go forward ten years to when I was about ten years old. This would be in 1994 and this is where things begin to deviate from the original. This is when the T-1000 was sent through."

"What do you mean?" Kate asked.

"Kate, the T-1000 was metal. Liquid metal that could manipulate itself into whatever shape or form that it needed to be in at that time." He paused for a moment. Kate stared at him blankly. "Something had changed, Kate! Before, only living tissue came through. Nothing metal at all. Now, all the sudden, metal could come through. Weapons could be brought back... I think this is the timeline where one of their T-800s found Summers, abducted her and began their testing on her."

Kate sat down heavily, the impact of that statement starting to hit her full force.

"To make matters worse…" he trailed off.

"How can it get worse, John?" Kate asked with a shaky voice.

"They abducted her in 2005 while she was in college. It looks like she was taken to a research facility in San Francisco and an offshoot of Cyberdyne Systems began their experimentations on her."

Kate felt the blood slowly drain from her face. "Do you mean to tell me that they kept her like that, even worse than one would keep a lab rat, for more than twenty years?" The shock and horror were more than apparent in her voice and on her face. She felt a rage build in her at John's nod.

"Due to the nature of what her blood can do, SkyNet made huge advances in their technology. Including creating a time displacement device that allowed metal to be sent through." John sighed and started pacing. "I also found out that this time around, the time device in the research facility we just raided, it isn't the only one. This time, there is another one out there somewhere!" He ran a hand over his head in frustration. "There are too many things that are different, Kate! The Devil's hands have been busy and I don't know if I can keep up with them!" Slamming his hand down on the table in frustration, he growled out, "What can I do, Kate?"

Kate, recovering from the shock of John actually losing his temper reached out a hand and laid gently on his. She could understand his frustration. She smiled softly at him as her touch quieted the raging beast.

"Kate…" he began. "I'm digging through timeline after timeline here, attempting to make sense of it all. The only thing I know for certain is, SkyNet will try to get her back. We need to find a way to prevent that from happening." His head snapped around when he heard a rustling sound behind him but then relaxed when he saw the auburn haired head of their daughter ducking behind the desk. Jerking his head towards her with a rough smile on his face, John indicated for Kate to take care of the little girl. "I'm going to head down and see if the Techs can help me figure any of this out."

Kate nodded as she picked Jane up in her arms, watching sadly, worried for him, as John left their quarters. What he had found was dangerous. SkyNet wouldn't stop until they had their information back.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Connor felt a wrenching pain in his chest as he watched Kyle Reese step into the portal of blue light to follow the T-800 back in time to 1984. During the past ten years, he had spent a lot of time with Kyle, getting to know the young man who would become his father. He had made sure to give the man the picture of his mother a few years back. Kyle never failed to keep it near him at all times; Connor could appreciate his father's devotion to his mother. He just didn't necessarily want it. After all, that very devotion was going to get the man killed and start a sequence of events that couldn't be stopped.

Turning away, Connor barked out the orders to start setting the explosives that would be used to destroy the SkyNet facility that had been the breeding ground for so much horror and heartache. He paused when he saw Marcus motion to catch his attention, calling for him to come over to the bank of computers where he was standing with Sgt Dawson.

"What is it?" Connor demanded, anxious to get out of the lab.

Dawson cleared her throat nervously. "Um, s-s-sir. I… uh…"

"Get to the point, Dawson! In case you forgot, we have explosives about to detonate here!" Connor stated, impatient.

"Y-y-yes sir! But, I think… I think you might want to see this." She stuttered out while pointing to the computer screen.

Frowning, Connor leaned forward and took a look at what the young woman was pointing at. Once he did, he started swearing violently and took off running towards where the Demolitionist was setting up his explosives.

"Shit! Stop! Deakins, stop!" Connor shouted frantically. "Deakins! Don't set the timers!"

Connor skidded to a stop when he reached the main room where the majority of the explosives had been set up. Frantically, his gaze swept the room, radioing the topside team to see if they could locate Deakins. Connor's heart went into his throat when he found that the Demolitionist was already up there, waiting in the evac unit to head back to base. Looking at the sheer number of explosives set up around the main building structural units, he could see why Deakins was the best; but it was also a serious handicap right now. Swearing once again, Connor spun on his heel and took off at a run, heading back topside, radioing to Marcus to get Dawson out as well.

As the chopper lifted up and away, Connor watched as the facility imploded on itself from the explosives littered throughout it. Shaking his head, Connor sighed and then leaned forward, past Marcus, to the pilot.

"Sgt. Ellis!" he barked out.

Startled, the pilot turned his head slightly towards the general. "Yes, sir?"

"I need you to switch course. We're not going back to base." He ordered.

"We aren't, sir?" The pilot didn't mean to sound like he was questioning the orders, but he had been hoping to get back to the base and have a shower.

"No, Ellis, we're not." Connor snapped out. He proceeded to give him the coordinates of where he needed the Sgt to take them. Marcus frowned as Connor settled back into his seat.

"Where are we going, Connor?" Marcus asked, silently assessing Connor.

"Where we have no choice but to go. To where the other time displacement device is located. I'm going to need you to take a trip for me, Marcus."

*~*~*~*~*~*

Dawn rolled her eyes at Willow's babbling. It wasn't that the older woman was annoying her per se. It was the fact that Willow had been going non-stop for the last hour about how Xander just didn't get the fact that Willow didn't understand the appeal of female comic book characters. By the time that Xander had left from sheer frustration of debating the issue with Willow, Dawn had been ready to take an Ambien and call it a day. Thirty minutes later, Willow still showed no sign of stopping anytime soon.

Sighing, Dawn looked out the tall glass windows of the Victorian style home that she, Buffy, Willow and Faith all lived in. As senior members of the new Council and Slayers, they had been paid a great deal of money to keep them on staff and one of the perks had been their choice of which house would be the dormitory for the senior members. Dawn loved the house at night, when the antiquated lighting gave all the rooms a golden glow, reminding her of candle light and waltzes.

Realizing that Willow wasn't going to be slowing down anytime soon, Dawn quickly excused herself and just grinned at the evil glare that Faith sent her way as she darted out of the room. It was the dark Slayer's own fault for not taking the exit that had presented itself. Smiling to herself, she had just started up the third floor staircase when she heard the front door chime. Laughing quietly as she heard Faith dash towards it, knowing the Slayer was pouncing on an opportunity to get away from Willow's babbling, Dawn continued on up the stairwell when Faith suddenly called out to her, asking her to come downstairs.

Curious as to who could possibly be there to see her, Dawn turned and headed back down the stairs. She paused on the second level landing and listened as Faith questioned whoever was at the door as to what they were doing there. Unfortunately, all Dawn could hear in reply was a murmur of a voice and the frustration of Faith's voice for not getting a satisfying answer. Sighing, she gave in and headed on down to see who it was at the door.

The first thing Dawn noticed as she got closer to the first floor level was the feeling of immense power that seemed to fill the area. As she reached the last of the steps, she saw that Willow was standing in the parlor doorway, practically crackling with suppressed energy, readying for whatever may come. Turning into the foyer of the house, Dawn stopped as she saw who was at the front entrance.

She sensed immediately that what she saw and what was actually there in the doorway were two different things; the being had glamored itself to be able to move freely amongst the human race. Had it not been for her connection to her sister and the Slayer blood, Dawn more than likely wouldn't have even noticed that something was off with the woman in front of her. Frowning, Dawn approached cautiously and nodded at Faith that she was aware that there was possibly a need for some Slayer backup.

Clearing her throat, she said, "I'm Dawn. What can I do for you?"

The woman nodded her head in acknowledgement and said quietly, "Yes, I know who you are. My name is Chao-Xing. I come as an emissary of the Chung-Lao clan of the Taotie boundary guardians. I come meaning no harm and only wish to impart information. I beg of you the right to safe passage."

"You're a demon." Faith stated flatly.

The woman turned to Faith and her eyes quickly flashed a fiery red. "Yes. Chinese boundary guardians are demons. We, however, have no desire for world domination. We wish only to live in solitary, being left alone."

Dawn cocked her head in confusion. "Then why are you here?"

"Because I was told to come and deliver information to you, Dawn Summers." The woman answered.

"What information would that be?" Willow asked, defensiveness evident in her tone.

"We have a seer in our clan, Guan-Yin. She is very powerful. She has stated that you must be warned of your future." Chao-Xing said quietly. "She has seen much danger for you and that if your destiny unfolds as she has foreseen, everything as we know will be changed forever."

Dawn frowned at the demon's words. A sense of remembrance tickling in the back of her mind. "What are you talking about?"

"Guan-Yin has asked that I escort a gift to you; a means of defense against the darkness that is approaching your fate." The demon turned and spoke a quick command in Chinese to something behind her. There was a shuffling sound and a snap of branches from the bush at the foot of the front steps and suddenly, a large brindle colored dog appeared. Massive, easily outweighing most mastiffs, the dog had a glossy full coat and a large brindle colored mane of fur around its neck. The eyes were what really captivated Dawn, however. They were a clear icy blue, intelligence radiating from them.

"The Chung-Lao clan formally present the gift of the Fu dog to Dawn Summers, the Key, to be used for the means of protection against the evils that may await her." The demon said, formality radiating from her as she bowed deeply to the younger woman. The large dog shook its mane of fun and snuffled, walking forwards and licking Dawn's hand in greeting.

That was all it took to win over Dawn. She had always been a sucker for animals. She suspected that this seer had known that as well.

Straightening, Chao-Xing looked at Dawn. "He is a guardian against evil. Trust his instincts always and possibly your future will not come to pass. He will die to protect you." She gazed down at the large dog and he shuffled over and pressed his massive head up under her hand, forcing her to pet him. She did so with a smile and then turned, saying as she did so, "Trust him. He will be your only hope of identifying the dangers that await you." She walked down the steps, said something in Chinese softly and then disappeared in a blaze of fire and smoke.

Dawn looked down at the dog where he sat in attentive silence. "Well, I guess it's just you and me, huh?" The dog thumped his tail, tongue lolling out. "I wonder what your name is anyways."

Faith snorted. "Do you really think it matters? He's the size of a freakin' horse, Dawn! I don't think B is going to be down with this."

Willow moved into the room, calming somewhat now that the demon was gone. She leaned down and gently patted the dog's head, smiling when he quickly licked her hand, slobbering all over it. She looked over at Dawn and sighed. "Buffy has no choice but to accept it. Fu dogs, once presented formally to a recipient, must stay with their owner. They cannot be separated from them."

"Oh, really? And why is that, Glenda?" Faith said, derision heavy in her voice.

Willow leveled a glare on Faith and then said to Dawn, "They're bonded to their owners. If you separate them, they'll die."

Dawn looked over at the dog and sighed. "Well, I guess it's just you and me, buddy." She studied the dog for a moment and then smiled. "I'm totally naming you Spike." The dog thumped its tail and then stood up and moved over to the girl, bumping her with his shoulder and almost knocking her over with his weight.

"Spike? Why Spike?" Willow questioned.

"Because… how much is it going to annoy Spike, knowing that there is something that responds to his name to every beck and call?" Dawn responded, giggling.

Faith laughed. "Good point." She turned and headed towards the back of the house to where the kitchen was. "But you're going to be the one to tell B that there's a dog in the house." She paused for a moment and then said, "Lord help Spike if she ends up with dog hair on her black cashmere sweater!"

*~*~*~*~*

Marcus stared at Connor for a long moment, the time displacement device roaring to life behind him. Dawson sat at the controls, sweating and visibly shaking.

"Why are we doing this, Connor?" he asked quietly.

"Because it's the only way to keep SkyNet from becoming more powerful and more advanced than what we can fight." Connor answered honestly. "They sent a T-1000 back to 2009, to find Dawn Summers and pick up on the research that they had already started. We have to keep her safe, Marcus." Connor looked over at Kate and thought of what could possibly happen to his family; his wife and son and daughter wouldn't stand a chance if they didn't prevent the machine from finding Summers and picking up where they had left off in their research. "She needs to be found and she needs to hidden."

Marcus stared at the man, the leader of the Resistance intently for a moment and then asked the question foremost in his mind. "Why me, Connor? Why are you sending me?"

"Because you're the only one I can trust to do this right, Marcus. You're the only one strong enough to protect her." Connor stated quietly.

Marcus nodded. He could accept that answer. He turned and walked over to the portal that had opened up and was waiting for him to step into it. "I'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe, Connor." And then, stepping into the portal, he was gone in a flash of intense blue light.

"It's in your hands now, Marcus." Connor whispered. "Help us make our fates." He then turned and looked at Deakins. "Destroy it. No one else goes through." And then he strode off, not looking back as he heard Deakins start doing what he did best: blowing shit up.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author: **Muse  
**Title: **Blood of Fate | Chapter 3  
**Disclaimer: **See previous chapters

* * *

Spike sighed and leaned against the newspaper dispenser outside yet another book store Dawn had disappeared into a half an hour earlier. He snorted as the wind swept past, causing dust to shoot up his nose.

The scent of _Something_ filled his sensory glands, sending him into instant full alert. He couldn't tell if it was a _Bad Something_ or a _Good Something_ and that worried him immensely. He surged to his feet immediately, shaking out the massive mane of fur around his neck and a low rumble of a growl erupting from deep in his throat. Several people slipped past him quickly, casting fearful glances his way. Normally this reaction would have caused him no end of amusement, but right now he was solely focused on the approaching _Something_ he couldn't identify.

He spared a quick glance through the window of the bookstore and saw Dawn talking to the clerk behind the cashier's counter. Scanning the immediate area, he tried to determine where the _Something_ was approaching from. His instincts told him that whatever it was, it was here for Dawn.

Deciding that he could better protect Dawn by being closer to her; Spike moved his substantial bulk in front of the entry and kept a wary surveillance of the neighborhood. He could only catch brief puffs of the elusive scent belonging to the _Something_, but it was getting stronger by the minute. He settled down at the front stoop and arranged himself so anyone coming along would understand he would not move until he decided to.

Glancing back into the bookstore, he could see Dawn handing a book over to the clerk, the faint sound of her laughter drifting through the crack in the doorjamb.

Head snapping back to the front, he abruptly lurched to his feet, all senses keyed in to the fact that the _Something_ was _Here_, somewhere nearby on this block. He felt a sense of urgency as he lifted his massive head once again to the wind in an attempt to determine what was that was heading their way. A soft whine of frustration escaped from his throat when he still couldn't tell what the _Something_ was. Risking a quick glance back into the bookstore, Spike saw Dawn taking a small bag from the clerk, a wide smile on her face as she thanked him. It was obvious that she would be outside soon and he was no closer to identifying what was headed toward them. He just might have to block her exit.

He surveyed the block again, experienced eyes dismissing what was unnecessary to his needs. His eyes narrowed on a man across the street. Dressed casually, the man leaned against the wall of the bakery directly across the street from them, his eyes steadily watching Spike. Spike lowered his head slightly, both ears turning back toward the potential threat as he moved into a stiff-legged stance, barring the door as much as possible with his unmoving bulk. The man pushed away from the brick wall and began a slow walk towards the bookstore, pausing slightly as several cars passed by in the street. Tension built in Spike's muscles as their eyes remained locked. The closer the man got to Spike, the more obvious it became that the two of them were sizing each other up, attempting to determine weaknesses and strengths and ways to exploit both.

The man stopped within a few feet of Spike, just out of lunging reach, never once breaking his gaze with Spike. It had become a staring match, a challenge of dominance. He still wasn't sure what the _Something_ before him was, but he was absolutely positive that it was not a fully human male. The scent was off, different. A low rumble once again boiled up from his chest as the man continued to stare, setting off alarms even louder in Spike's mind. No normal human male ever challenged him to this extent. Just as he was about to bare teeth and get into a good old fashioned dog-against-man brawl, the bell to the bookstore behind him jingled and Dawn emerged, bag in hand, rummaging around in her purse and not watching where she was going. Which inevitably resulted in stumbling over Spike, dropping both purse and bag and flinging her arms out, grasping them around the man in front of her in an effort to avoid a face plant onto the cobblestone sidewalk.

~*~*~*~

Dawn sighed tiredly as she grabbed the shopping bag containing the book she found for the Council. After checking out about a million stores in the tri-state area, she had finally located one. Luckily, neither the bookstore owner nor the clerks had any idea what the book actually was or she would have never found it. As it was, she still paid through the nose for it and was definitely going to be sure to have the Council fully reimburse both her travel expenses and the cost of the book. Her credit card had cringed when the sales clerk rung up the total.

Holding the bag in her other hand, she rummaged through her purse, not looking as she stepped through the door and out onto the steps that led to the sidewalk. Her ever elusive cell phone was proving to be… elusive. Highly irritated, Dawn continued to dig into her bag, unaware of her surroundings and completely unprepared for Spike's body blocking the head of the steps. When her shins came into contact with his back, Dawn was already mentally preparing to verbally blast the dog… just as soon as she picked herself up. Her descent began and the shopping bag, purse and stupid cell phone went flying in an unknown direction as she violently pin wheeled her arms in a desperate attempt to avoid an embarrassingly horrible face plant.

Bracing herself for the hard impact with the cobblestone sidewalk, Dawn was surprised instead when she found her crash halted by a pair of strong arms. Opening her eyes, she was nose to breast bone with a very impressively muscled chest covered with a nicely stretched t-shirt. Taking a deep breath as the arms settled her back safely on her feet, Dawn continued her perusal of the chest and up over the collar of the shirt and jacket to the neck where she could just make out a faint shadow of dark hair. Her gaze continued to follow the neck up, revealing a strong chin and jaw, full lips, ending with a pair of brilliant blue eyes… eyes that stirred a faint memory she couldn't quite grasp as it flitted through her mind.

Shaking her head, she flushed hotly when she realized that the man was watching her appreciative observation of him with a slight smirk. Taking several steps back, Dawn glanced down and saw that Spike was silently watching the scene unfold. Remembering why she was in this predicament to begin with, she leveled a glare down the dog that should have seared the fur right off of his body.

"Spike!" she growled out at him. "I thought we talked about this."

Spike had the good sense to look down in apology.

Turning, she looked back at the man who had saved her from even more embarrassment. "I'm sorry. Really. He's a gentle giant, but Spike has a habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time." She shot another look down at Spike, which he studiously ignored. "I'm Dawn." She stuck her hand out in greeting and smiled, feeling slightly giddy when the man took it and shook it in return.

"I'm Marcus." The man said in a quiet, deep voice. He looked down at Spike and then glanced back up at Dawn. "I'm not sure I know what kind of dog that is. I don't think I've ever seen anything like him."

Dawn smirked a little. "I'm sure you haven't. He's an extremely... rare… breed. He was a gift!"

Marcus nodded.

Dawn fidgeted as the silence stretched between them. Just when she didn't think she was going to be able to take it much longer, Marcus looked at her and said, "Hey. I know you don't know anything about me. But would you be interested in grabbing a cup of coffee with me?"

Spike chuffed quietly beside her. She waved her hand slightly in his direction and smiled at Marcus. "Sure! I'd love to! I think there's a place just around the corner… if you'd like?"

Marcus flashed a grin and waved a hand ahead of him, indicating for her to lead the way. "Sure! Sounds good." He glanced behind her at the dog that was still staring at him with those all too-knowing eyes. "Is he coming with us?"

Dawn shrugged. "Yeah. He kinda goes everywhere with me." She sighed. "Is that a problem?"

Marcus locked eyes with the dog and they evaluated each other again. Spike's steady gaze reassured Marcus that for the moment, Dawn was safe and being watched after. Each coming to the same conclusion of no immediate threat, they dropped their gazes simultaneously and Marcus shook his head. "No, it's not a problem. Are you ready?"

Dawn nodded happily and started down the sidewalk toward the coffee shop, Marcus in step with her and the massive dog following behind. They drew quite a few stares on their way.

~*~*~*~

Arm stretched along the top of his side, Marcus leaned back in the booth and listened as Dawn babbled away. He could tell she was nervous and was trying to cover it up with random small talk. As he watched her fidget in her seat, he had a hard time reconciling this vibrant young woman with the tortured female he had released from those engraved bonds in his bleak and terrible future.

Hearing her ask him what he did for a living, he realized it was show time and sat up in his seat, taking a sip of his coffee and started the lie that he and Connor had come up with.

"I'm in private personal security."

Dawn looked at him, puzzled. "What? You mean like home security systems?"

"No." he said, chuckling. "I mean like bodyguard."

"Oh." She said, floundering. "Is it for celebrities or something?"

Marcus nodded. "Among others, yes. But I don't do the work personally anymore. I own the company and I train the employees." He looked at her, expression grave. "I think that it's an important service, one that isn't given enough consideration."

Dawn pondered that for a moment. "Yeah, I can understand that." She glanced out the window comforted that Spike was sitting quietly, his unwavering gaze intent on the door leading into the coffee shop. "You can't be too careful these days. Danger lurks everywhere, it seems."

"What about you? What do you do, Dawn?" Marcus asked her, genuinely curious.

"Me? I'm a researcher and a translator for an antiquities procurement company." The lie rolled off her tongue easily and yet, for some reason, she felt a little guilty for lying to Marcus.

Marcus pursed his lips. "Impressive. Any particular languages?"

"Dead ones." She replied, laughing. "Sumerian, Aramaic, Etruscan, Galatian… just to name a few. And then the old standby of Latin, when all else fails." She sighed. "It gets tiring at times, the research, the translating… but when you figure something out that no one else has found, it makes it all worth it!"

Marcus smiled and then proceeded to take over the small talk. Questioning her in such a way that he was able to glean quite a bit of useful information. He learned that she lived with her sister and two friends, worked for a large firm that was internationally established, kept to herself for the most part and she graduated college with highest honors. The most important thing, however, was that he was able to determine that she was not currently being stalked by the T-1000 that had been sent through before him. That made his life and his mission a little simpler since it allowed him the opportunity to become better acquainted with her as well as her getting to know him before anything happened. It gave him time to start establishing a trust between them. He took all of the information and started filing it away. After all, the smallest detail could be of vital importance.

~*~*~*~

Dawn laughed and then frowned when she happened to glance down at her watch and saw what time it was. Good lord! – They'd been at the coffee shop for over two hours! Buffy and Faith were going to have a fit!

Marcus saw the sudden change in Dawn's manner and leaned forward, gently tapping her hand. "Hey. Everything ok?"

Dawn sighed. "Yeah… it's just… I have to go. I was supposed to be back at my office over two hours ago."

"Ok." Marcus watched her for a moment. "Do you think I could get your number? Maybe I could call you later this week?" He was barely able to hide the smile that threatened when he saw the excited look that came over Dawn's face.

Dawn nodded vigorously. "Yes! Yes, of course!" She tore off a corner from the bill and quickly wrote her cell phone number down. "Feel free to call anytime!" She invited with a wide smile.

He tucked the paper into his wallet and stood up, heading to the register to pay the bill. Dawn gathered up her items and stepped out of the booth as he dropped several bills on the table for the waitress. He placed a hand lightly on the small of her back as he escorted her to the door and she barely suppressed the shiver of acknowledgement that a gorgeous man was touching her. God, she felt like she was fifteen again!

Making their goodbyes and a promise from Marcus for him to call later in the week, Dawn watched as he strolled off with an easy gait. Sighing in happy excitement, she looked at Spike.

"Well! – that was a pleasant surprise!"

Spike huffed and stood up; looking in the direction that Marcus had taken when he left.

"What? He's a nice guy!"

Spike snorted.

"Whatever. He's a nice guy and I'm excited I met him."

Spike snorted again.

"And don't think I've forgotten what you did to cause this whole thing, Mister!"

Spike turned a silent gaze towards her.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Nothing to say when you know you're in trouble, huh?"

Spike studiously ignored her.

Dawn gazed at the large dog for a moment and couldn't help but smile. He had just been doing his job; she couldn't really be too upset with him. Leaning down, she reached out a hand and scratched that special spot behind his ear that always made him lean heavily into her. Giving a happy snuffle, Spike turned his head and licked her hand. Dawn stood back up and patted his head and then slung her purse back on her shoulder.

Hearing her cell ring and seeing the display showing Willow's number, Dawn sighed heavily. "All right, Spike. Let's go. We're being paged." She turned headed toward her Jeep. "Lord only knows what they'll do if we're any later." Answering the phone, she braced herself for the inevitable Willow-babble and started off to her car. Time to go home; maybe, just maybe, she'd get a call from Marcus later in the week.

~*~*~*~

Marcus made his way back to the apartment he had set himself up in. He'd been in the Cleveland area for almost a year looking for Dawn. It hadn't been easy, the group she was affiliated with was clandestine and finding information on them had been rather like looking for a needle in a haystack. Luckily, Connor had given him information pertaining to various contacts that he had set up during his time there and also several bank accounts that had been set up with a substantial amount of money to fund Marcus's mission.

Knowing that the Council Dawn worked with would investigate him thoroughly, he had in fact started a private security company and earned 'an honest living' through it. He was instinctively good at what he did and the business thrived with little effort on his part. This left him with plenty of time to search for Dawn and also monitor the situation regarding the other Terminator. So far it hadn't shown itself.

Entering his place, he tossed his keys on the table and shrugged off his jacket, slinging it over a chair and headed into the kitchen where he proceeded to open the refrigerator and grab a beer. Turning, he went into the living room and sat heavily on the couch, grabbing the remote and turning on the TV to one of the local news channels. Opening the beer, he tugged out his wallet and pulled out the slip of paper Dawn had written her number on. The young woman he'd just had coffee with was so unlike the emaciated female he had met in the future. In this time, she was vibrant, full of life, and seemed so untouched. He wasn't sure if she had already been abducted yet and was that good at hiding it, but he knew he'd do whatever was needed to help prevent that from happening. Having met the girl, it was imperative that the horrifying future awaiting her had to be avoided at all costs; more for her than for what it meant for the future. Why he felt so strongly about it, he wasn't entirely sure.

Leaning back on the couch, he took a long pull on his beer before setting it down on the end table next to him. Lifting first one leg and then the other, he pulled his boots off and then turned to lie down on the couch, arm over his eyes. Rest was his priority right now. He had a feeling watching over Dawn for the next few weeks were going to be exhausting.


	4. Chapter 4

**Title:** The Blood of Fate: Chapter Four  
**Author:** Muse  
**Rating:** R  
**Character/Pairing:** Marcus Wright, Dawn Summers  
**Warnings:** Violence, gore. SPOILERS FOR T4! Don't say you weren't warned!  
**Summary:** It was always about the blood…  
**Disclaimer:** Terminator characters are the creation of James Cameron. Buffy characters are the property of Joss Whedon. I'm not making a profit and it wouldn't do to come after me for money; I have three kids. I'm broke as a joke, yo!  
**Beta credits:** dhark-charlotte, bewize and sabaceanbabe. Thank you, all of you! I don't know what I would have done without you guys!

* * *

Dawn looked at her clock again, for what felt like the thousandth time in the last four days and let out a deep sigh. Picking up her cell phone from beside the pile of papers on her desk, she checked to make sure she had a signal. It didn't matter that she had already checked it regularly over the last four days; she wanted to make sure it worked right then. Seeing that she did in fact have coverage in the room, she glared at the four bars happily shining back at her from the screen. Turning, she threw the offending phone across the room where it landed on the bed in between two pillows. There! – That showed it!

Turning back to her desk, Dawn ran a hand through her hair and frowned. It was time to face facts; four days and no call was a glaring indicator that Marcus just wasn't interested. It wasn't as if he was the first guy to say he'd call and then didn't. However, he was the first guy that she actually cared if he called or not. Ever since her freshman year of college she'd had no real desire to date or be involved with anyone. It probably had something to do with that whole 'lack of trust' thing she had going on.

Marcus had seemed different, though. When she looked into his eyes… Dawn quickly derailed that train of thought, recognizing the futility of it. Whatever feelings they had were quite obviously one-sided and she just needed to accept it. She needed to concentrate on the task at hand.

Her feelings hurt, but resigning herself to the truth of the situation, Dawn reached over and picked up the book she was using to research an issue that had come up with one of the mini-Slayers. Goddess only knew what all of that actually meant. Their Dreams were sometimes difficult to decipher and just about always ended up in her having a massive headache from being the one to work them out.

A deep groan drew her attention and she turned to watch Spike rouse from his nap. Her fuzzy friend proceeded to indulge in a mighty stretch that nearly tipped over her nightstand with his substantial bulk. His doggy yoga complete, he walked the three steps over to Dawn and plopped his head on her lap. She was treated to a pair of blue eyes silently begging for his after-nap ear scratches. Smiling, she did her duty and scratched behind his ears, accepting his thanks by way of a lick to her hand and a happy snuffle. Once content with his human's demonstration of affection, he flopped down at her feet and resumed his previous sleep mode. Dawn shook her head. A dog's life was so uncomplicated. She picked up her pen and went back to her task, jotting down notes as she read through the book. She was quickly lost in Research Mode.

Dawn was so engrossed in her reading that several hours later the noise she heard on the fringe of her attention didn't register. It was when Spike snurfled in his sleep that she finally tuned in and started in surprise - her phone was ringing! Lunging to her feet, she sprinted toward her bed to grab her cell phone. She probably would have been successful had Spike not been at her feet ; instead, she tripped over him, arms flailing wildly as she clung desperately to the blankets of her bed in a futile effort to not go down . Cursing madly, Dawn fell to the floor with a loud crash and then struggled through the tangle of limbs, tail and linens to reach the ringing phone. Just as she broke free of the mess and rose up onto her knees, the phone stopped ringing. Disbelief filled her at the audacity of her phone to stop ringing after everything she had just gone through to get to it. Giving one final heave, she leapt across the bed and dug the phone out from between her pillows.

Checking the missed calls list, Dawn cursed again when she saw that all of her efforts had been for nothing anyway; the call she had missed had been from Xander. Rubbing the knee she had abused in her mad dash to the phone, she looked over at Spike who was now sitting up and staring at her quizzically. She leveled a glare at him that made the big dog look away in a rare act of self-preservation. "Spike…" she huffed out. She paused when he let out a low whine. There were times when she was thoroughly convinced that not only could the dog fully comprehend her, but also that he was making a conscious effort to hide it.

"Spike…" she started again. "Is there some reason why you insist on always being under my feet?"

The dog glanced back at her and Dawn swore she saw a flash of amusement in his eyes before he turned and chewed at an itch at the base of his tail. Throwing her hands up in exasperation, she resumed her perusal of her injured knee, saw that a mighty bruise was already forming, and sighed; that was going to hurt. A lot. Flopping back on her pillows, she glanced over at her alarm clock and groaned when she saw that it was now after ten at night. She had just lost five hours to research and she hadn't even realized it! She really was a nerd.

Fighting the urge to take her frustrations out on the innocent throw pillow next to her, Dawn's self-pity was unexpectedly interrupted when her phone rang again. Frowning, fully expecting that it was going to be Xander again, which she was going to blast for calling her so late, she picked up the phone and paused when she saw the number. It was Marcus!

It was about time.

Heart pounding and hands suddenly sweating, Dawn took a moment to compose herself. A rush of self-consciousness swept over her along with a wave of giddiness. Letting out a small squeal of excitement, to which Spike just let out a huffing groan in response, Dawn took a deep breath and then took the plunge she had been imagining for days. She answered the phone.

"Hello?"

Silence greeted her on the other end. Frowning, she quickly glanced to make sure that the call was still connected. Seeing that it was, she licked her lips nervously and tried again.

"Hello?" She waited in silence and when she heard nothing, she decided to give it one last shot. "Marcus?" She could hear him take a breath.

"Dawn?" his deep voice asked.

Dawn gave a huge grin and barely contained the shiver that went through her at the sound of his voice. "The one and only!" she chirped out. Again, she was greeted with silence. Had she been too giddy? "Marcus? You there?"

"Yeah… Yeah, I'm here." He sighed. "It's been a long day. I'm sorry it took so long to call you." He paused for a moment. "I was out of town…" He trailed off. "Look, I'm sorry. I just got back and I didn't realize what time it was." She could hear rustling and what could have been furniture creaking as he sat down with a grunting sigh.

"It's not a problem. I'm a bit of a night owl. Translating and research always keep me up." She took another deep breath to keep herself from babbling nervously. "Anyway, how was your trip? Where'd you go?"

"I went out to L.A.," he answered. "I'm looking to start a new branch out there."

Dawn frowned at the awkward silence that followed his statement and fished around for something else to ask, finally deciding on the obvious. "Did you find a place?"

"Yeah… One thing you can count on out there is the supposed need for bodyguards." He chuckled.

Dawn smiled and relaxed, realizing that he hadn't been trying to get off the phone with her. "I can imagine!" She paused for a moment, debating her next statement and then decided to just go for it. "You know… I didn't think you were going to call me."

Marcus sighed slightly. "It was nothing like that, Dawn. I was just busy."

"I realize that now." She said, a smile in her tone.

"I was actually calling to see if you'd like to have coffee with me again. I didn't realize how late it was, though." He said, a question in his voice.

Dawn glanced at the clock and leapt with the whim that crossed her mind. Caution had held her hostage for so long and she felt that for some reason, she could trust Marcus. Besides, she always had Spike with her. "You know, we could still meet. That is… if you're not too tired from your trip?"

She could hear Marcus shift in his seat and held her breath, wondering if he was going to back out of the offer. She grinned hugely when he said, "Yeah, we can do that. Wanna meet me in an hour at the place on Greenwood and Dexter?"

She knew the place; she had stopped there several times while she was out looking for some of the books the Council needed. She liked it and it was open 24 hours. "That works! I'll meet you there!"

"OK, I'll see you there."

They hung up after saying their goodbyes and Dawn sat for a moment, processing what had just taken place. Suddenly realizing she had just made a date with the guy she had been waiting to call her, she gave a mighty squeal and leapt off the bed, racing to her closet. Spike, startled from his nap, jumped up and glanced around in confused surprise. He huffed a soft bark of discontent at the girl who was now frantically digging through her clothes.

"Shush, Spike! Not now!" she groused, looking through her shirts and pants. She wanted to look good, but without appearing as if she was trying too hard. She wasn't going to meet him in her sweats, that was for sure!

"Spike," Dawn soothed, "calm down."

The large dog continued his menacing growl, hackles raised, his head tucked low and ears laid back.

"That's enough, Spike!" she commanded firmly.

The dog ignored her, his growls rumbling from deep within his chest. Taking a step forward, legs stiff, he exposed his teeth in blatant warning.

Dawn eyed the three men who had managed to catch her by surprise. She had been so intent on getting to her meeting with Marcus, that she hadn't been as attentive as she normally would have been. Had Spike not been there with her, the situation could have been much worse. Taking her attention off the men, as she was positive they weren't getting past Spike, she surveyed her surroundings. She silently berated herself again when she saw that they had effectively maneuvered her into a blind alley. Not good. She also noted there was nothing around that she could use as a weapon.

Hearing one of the men curse, Dawn brought her attention back to the problem at hand. It was time to settle this issue.

"Hey!" she called out.

The three men trained their attention onto her. She swallowed hard.

"Look… this has gone far enough." She gestured with a hand in their direction, encompassing the whole of the situation. She was about to elaborate when one of the men, tall with dark hair, stepped forward slightly. Smirking, he looked her up and down with a leer that made Dawn feel dirty, violated.

"Far enough?" He let out a humorless bark of laughter. Turning back to the other two men, he waved his hand towards her. "She thinks this has gone far enough!"

The short, blonde-haired guy gave a harsh chuckle and nudged the man next to him. This one was close shaven, almost bald, and he looked decidedly uncomfortable. Shrugging, he crossed his arms over his chest and glanced away; it was obvious he didn't want to be there.

The dark-haired guy just shook his head and then turned back to Dawn, the grin slipping away. A fierce frown took its place. "No, sweetheart." His voice deepened, becoming more menacing. "This hasn't gone nearly far enough."

Spike hunkered down; coiling up for an attack and Dawn knew she needed to defuse the situation. The air practically crackled with dark anticipation. Resting a hand on Spike's back, Dawn tried again.

"If you don't leave now, things are going to get very nasty." She made sure to make eye contact with each of her assailants. "Despite what you think, I've read this book." She curled her hand into the dog's thick fur. "Allow me to spoil it for you; it doesn't end well."

The bald man met Dawn's gaze for a long moment. He must have seen the truth of the statement in her eyes because he dropped his. Taking a deep breath, he uncrossed his arms.

"Dude!" he called out to the leader. When the man turned his attention to him, the bald man jerked his thumb behind him. "I'm out. I didn't want to do this to begin with… I'm not sticking around."

The leader opened his mouth to say something, but the bald man just waved him off and turned, hurrying out of the alley. Dawn watched his progress with a held breath until he rounded the corner and was gone from sight. Looking back to the other two, she sighed deeply.

"Well," she said, "it's obvious he's the smart one of this operation."

Their faces darkened at the derision in her voice.

"You wanna play games, bitch?" the dark-haired man snarled, furious. "We'll play games!"

Dawn sucked in a breath as he pulled out a handgun and aimed it towards her. Spike let out a loud growl, snarling, lips baring his teeth even more. Every muscle in the dog's body was tightly drawn, waiting for the moment when Dawn released him. She knew she wouldn't be able to hold him much longer.

The blonde paled at the appearance of the pistol. "Chris! Dude? What the fuck are you doing?" he shouted nervously. "Fuck! Man, this is… let her go, man!"

The leader, now identified as Chris, growled over his shoulder at the other man. "Shut the fuck up! The little bitch needs a lesson in manners!"

Dawn glared at the man. She needed a lesson in manners? That was a joke! Despite how offended she was, however, she felt obligated to try once more to warn them off.

"Ok… last chance; you really should leave now." She let go of Spike's fur and he took it as a sign of release and took a step forwards. "When he attacks," she began, pointing to the massive dog, "I will not be able to stop him."

The two men turned their attention to the dog that now stood fully between them and the girl, his growls deep rumbles of thunder echoing from his chest. The fur of his ruff stood up in agitation and his ears laid flat against his head. He was a terrifying vision and it was obvious he was going to protect his mistress in the most primal and primitive of ways. The blonde appraised the beast stalking towards them and began to back away.

Chris saw this and snarled out, "You leaving, too?" The question was unnecessary as the blonde was already at the end of the alley. Not saying a word, the blonde turned and rushed away, not looking back. Spike's growling growing louder brought Chris' attention back to Dawn. Glaring at her, he began to raise the gun up towards her, all sanity in his eyes having been replaced by overpowering rage. Spike's body stilled, as did his growls. Dawn found that more disturbing than the primitive reactions he had been displaying prior.

Chris obviously agreed as well. Swinging the pistol down, he pointed it at the dog. Giving a smirk, he hissed out, "You won't be so cocky when he's not here!"

Dawn reacted immediately. "Spike! Now!" she shouted as she dove out of the way, rolling up against the wall out of the direct line of fire. It all happened in a flash; it felt like the blink of an eye. Dawn knew she'd never forget it, however.

As she dove, she saw Spike lunge forward; closing the distance between him and the threat faster than Chris could react. The bullet went wild. This only served to anger Spike more and as he reached the man, he gave a mighty push with his back legs and leapt, massive jaws closing around Chris' arm in an iron grip. The dog's momentum carried them back and Spike landed with his weight on Chris' chest. The man screamed in agony as Spike's jaws closed tighter on his arm, the sound of breaking bone-crushing Dawn to wince in silent empathy.

The blood pooling around the now still man was the signal that it was time to call Spike off. "Spike!" She gave a short whistle and the dog froze, having dropped Chris' arm and his jaws were now closed around his neck, waiting for any sign of threatening movement to clamp like a steel trap around the man's windpipe. "Spike!" she commanded, louder and more forcefully. The dog let out a low, grouching growl and then let go of the man, stepping backwards off him. Dawn watched as Spike made sure to put all of his weight into each step and took the pace of a snail.

Again, the thought crossed her mind that Spike was just excessively human-like in his mannerisms and attitude to be 'just' another dog.

Seeing that Chris was now well beyond incapacitated, Dawn checked her watch and jumped when she saw the time. Stalking over to the man groaning on the pavement, she pulled back her foot and gave him a mighty kick in his leg. "Thank you very much, asshat! I'm now late for a date that I've been waiting to happen for almost a week!"

Chris just whimpered and coughed.

Glaring at him, Dawn decided he wasn't even worth the effort.

Growling to herself, Dawn turned her attention back to Spike. He was still standing watchful guard, not turning his carefully locked gaze from the man writhing in pain on the ground. She noticed that he still had blood on his snout from the attack; that wasn't her main concern, however. Right now, she was more worried about the fact that someone had to have heard the gunshot. They needed to get out of there. Now.

"Spike!" she called. "Let's go!"

Spike ignored her and continued to growl menacingly.

"Spike!" she snapped, agitation evident in her voice. The large dog backed away from the man and made his way over to her. Dawn glanced at her watch and frowned; she was so late!

Turning, Dawn hurried away to the front of the alley. Spike followed closely behind her, keeping a careful eye out for additional danger. Dawn glanced at her watch again and her stomach dropped; she was an hour late! She needed to call Marcus. He was probably already gone, but she could always hope. She needed to explain why she wasn't there.

She began digging through her purse, frantically looking for her cell. She could never understand why the damn things always ended at the absolute bottom of any carry case that they were in! Suddenly, she felt her hand brush against the hard plastic of the phone case and felt a rush of triumph.

Pulling the phone out, she hit the 'Send' button to dial the last number called, but she was so absorbed in her task that she didn't look up. Therefore, she didn't see the lowered fire escape ladder. The pain that burst through her body as her forehead came into full contact with metal was so intense that she immediately fell backwards onto Spike and slid the rest of the way to the sidewalk, dropping the cell phone along the way. Her vision blurred and her ears rang.

Dawn was in such agony that the voice on the other end of the phone didn't register at first. Finally, she gathered her wits about her enough to process the fact that someone was speaking to her. Groping around, she was able to locate the phone and brought it up to her ear.

"Hello?" she asked, feeling faint.

"Dawn?" a deep make voice responded back.

She frowned in confusion. Who was on the other end of the phone? Who had she called? She brought her hand to her head, trying to soothe the headache that was threatening to cause her to violently spill the contents of her stomach all over the sidewalk. Feeling something warm and sticky on her forehead, she moved her hand away with a frown. Glancing at her fingers, the frown deepened when she saw that it was blood, wet and warm, covering the skin.

"Dawn!" the male voice yelled louder, jerking her out of her confused wonderings.

"Ye..." her voice caught, throat dry. Swallowing hard against the nausea in an attempt to provide some moisture to it, Dawn tried again. "Yeah?"

"Dawn! Where are you? Are you ok?" the voice asked, worry lacing the tone.

She frowned, a faint memory forcing its way to the front and she remembered that she was supposed to meet Marcus. Marcus! She had called Marcus! A feeling of relief swept through her, along with a weakness and a fuzziness of the mind. She was hurt. She was hurt badly.

"Marcus?" she managed to whimper out.

"Yeah! Dawn! What's wrong?" he asked again.

"Uhhh…" she trailed off, confusion taking its hold again. "I… "She didn't know what to say. She was moved forward slightly when Spike nudged her in an attempt to keep her on track. Taking a deep breath, she pushed back the blackness that was threatening to overtake her and tried again. "I think I'm hurt, Marcus."

She heard Marcus take a deep breath. "Where are you?"

"Ummm…" her eyes lost focus, blurring once again. Shaking her head slightly, she brought herself back to the question. "I don't know… I…" she trailed off again.

"Summers! Where are you? Now!" Marcus barked.

Dawn straightened up slightly, bracing herself against the huge dog behind her. Instinctively, she responded to the order in the voice and made herself glance around until she found the street signs she needed. "I'm at Greenway and Oleander." The lure of the blackness was calling her and she was finding it hard to resist.

"Dawn! I'm on my way!" Marcus stated. She faintly heard him stand up, scraping back his chair. "Hold on, sweetheart! I'll be right there!"

"Mmmhmmm…" she whispered out and then promptly gave into the blackness, swirling away on the blissful wings of unconsciousness.

Marcus felt a wave frantic unease wash over him as he heard the phone on the other end fall to the ground ; he was unable to detect any other noise. Turning, he quickly stood up from his chair, grabbed his jacket and dug out his wallet. Tossing a couple of bills on the table to pay for the check, he shrugged on the jacket and raced out the door of the café for his truck. Worry clouded his mind and he knew he needed to calm his thoughts if he was going to be able to help Dawn.

Quickly driving down the streets, maneuvering his way through traffic, he made his way to the intersection that she had named. He wasn't happy with her; she had decided to walk through an area that was less than desirable and had exposed herself to danger. Once he found her and made sure she was all right and in one piece, he was definitely going to be having a counseling session with the girl.

Reaching the cross-streets that she had given him, he slowed down and pulled to a stop at the curb. Surveying the area, he searched for her. He needed to find her and get her out of there. When he didn't spot her right away, he felt a wave of anxiety. Suddenly, he saw a large furry lump halfway down the block and he breathed a deep sigh of relief. She was there.

Jogging down to where he had spotted Spike, he skidded to an abrupt halt when the dog lifted his head from where it had been laying on Dawn's hip. The beast had curled himself around the girl, not an easy feat given how tall she was, and was providing a hulking shield of protection for her until help arrived. Spike, seeing someone approach, swung his head up and let out a deep, warning growl. The message was unmistakable: back off or pay the consequences.

Marcus narrowed his eyes, debating how to approach the situation. His gaze swept over Dawn, making a note of her injuries. He could see a cut on her forehead, bleeding still. He had a feeling she was going to need stitches. It appeared that was her only injury, luckily. Bringing his gaze back to the dog, he tensed slightly when Spike let out a more menacing growl. Holding his hands up, palms out, he spoke quietly.

"Spike…" he began. "I know you don't trust me." Marcus had a deeply rooted suspicion that the dog was a great deal more intelligent that it let on; he treated the animal thusly. "She needs help."

Spike let out a small whine, licking Dawn's face.

Marcus took a step forward and froze when the dog again let out a deep rumbling growl. "Spike! Let me help her! I'm not going to hurt her. That's not why I'm here."

He could see the indecision in the dog's eyes and took another step forward. Spike, keeping a wary eye on him, stood up and took a couple of steps back. Marcus, taking it as a sign of acceptance, slowly stepped forward until he was beside her. Kneeling, he looked her over more closely and frowned. The cut was deeper than he had hoped; she was definitely going to need stitches. Looking up at Spike, his frown deepened and his eyes narrowed. There was blood on the dog's snout.

Glancing around, Marcus could see no sign of a struggle around the current location. He had a suspicion something had happened before Dawn had been injured. Bringing his attention back to the dog, he asked the obvious question.

"She got into trouble, didn't she?"

Spike snorted with a shake of his head. Marcus heaved a deep sigh. It looked like his assessment was correct; she was going to be difficult to keep safe. Reaching down, he scooped her up into his arms and stood up. Turning, he started towards his black Jeep but stopped when Spike planted himself in front of them.

"Look…" Marcus started, praying for patience. "She needs help. She needs stitches. I'm only taking her to the emergency room." He started a little at the sharp barking growl that emitted from the massive beast.  
"OK, I'm guessing that a hospital is out." Sighing, he thought for a moment. "All right, I'll take her home then."

He heaved a deep sigh when that suggestion resulted in an even more menacing growl from the dog. Obviously, home was not an option either. He couldn't help but wonder at that snippet of information. Frowning and shaking his head in resignation, he realized he only had one option left.

"Spike, that just leaves my place." He locked eyes with the dog then, neither looking away as they measured each other. Several tension-packed moments passed before the dog relaxed its posture and moved out of the way, allowing Marcus to go around him and take Dawn to his truck. Spike followed behind, keeping an eye on their surroundings.

Reaching the truck, Marcus braced the girl in his arms, opened the rear door to the back seat, and settled her in the vehicle. Turning, he realized that Spike wasn't going to let the girl go anywhere without him. Trying desperately to keep a rein on his impatience, he motioned for Spike to follow him around to the back of the Jeep. As he lifted the tailgate, he was faced with another issue.

Standing there at the rear of the truck, he watched as Spike peered into the rear cargo space. Prancing a step back, the dog looked up at Marcus and then back into the truck. A snorting sneeze emerging from the dog as both human and animal examined the space in the back against the bulk of the mass going into it.

It was not going to work, obviously.

Marcus leaned his head against his arms where they were still holding up the tailgate and fought the urge to hunt down the present-day John Connor and kick his ass. Dog fur… he was going to get _dog fur_ all over his interior. He had no choice. He hated dog fur!

Glaring at Spike, which the dog met head on without a flinch, Marcus stomped around to the passenger side of the truck. Opening the door, he motioned for the dog to get in after reclining and moving the seat back as far as he could. Right before the dog jumped in, Marcus stopped.

Gesturing to the blood on the dog's snout, he asked, "Is the problem taken care of?"

Spike thumped his tail, tongue lolling out and panted heavily.

"I'm going to take that as a 'yes'." He fought the urge to punch the truck and instead said, "You need to lick or clean or whatever that blood off of you." Closing the door after the dog climbed in, he walked over and got in the driver's seat and, starting up the truck, put it in gear and pulled away from the curb. "Get rid of the evidence. It'd be hard to explain the blood if we get pulled over."

Spike just shook his fur out and then stared straight at Marcus as the man coughed, waving the resulting flurry of hair out of his face. Connor owed him and when he saw him, he was definitely going to make sure he paid for it.


End file.
